Toward the construction of a postcolonial memory: a postcolonial reading of Sertorius (1662)

Paul Bouissac

The object of this paper is to address the problem of the postcolonial condition as a general cultural form that transcends the temporal boundaries of a particular historical period. Although there are some obvious dangers in decontextualizing politically and ideologically the modern colonial expansion of European countries and its global effects on other cultures and societies in a way that would amount to exonerating aggression and exploitation, it cannot be ignored that cultural changes through colonization predate the modern military and economic expansion of European powers. This process did not either come to an end with the last emancipations from European control (viz. Hong Kong and Macau) as new forms of colonizing emerge and ancient forms persist albeit clad in a different rhetoric. The colonizing process remains a challenge both locally, with respect to centralized national systems, and globally, with respect to ideological and economic hegemonies. Postcolonial awareness and critical methods provide means to understand such processes and to reassess the past as well as evaluate the present in view of regularities that transcend the boundaries and limitations of local collective memories. As long as safeguards are erected in order to prevent such an analysis from being used to dilute moral and legal responsibilities into some murky sociobiologv, it should be possible to construct a postcolonial vision that encompasses a multivoiced representation of world history, thus contributing to the emergence of a global memory. This memory would have to be postcolonial since it would have to come to grips with the fact that hardly any population has escaped some form of transformation through being colonized at one point or another in time, and had to negotiate some form of ensuing alienation. However, it is important to keep in mind that political and cultural independence are not coterminous phenomena. Minds and institutions can remain colonized long after their colonizers have vanished from the face of the earth. 

This paper will anchor this constructive reflection in an analysis of the representations of the Romans in the ethos of French classicism. It is indeed quite striking that the former colonizers of the European Provinces remained long after their demise the providers of cultural and moral models for the elites. The case of Pierre Corneille's political tragedv Sertorius (1662) will be introduced as an example. This play, which was regularly performed until 1805, is relevant on two accounts: first, it bears witness to the haunting presence of alien events and characters that set some form of moral, political and esthetic norms; even though the situations may refer to some contemporary problems, the play presupposes a familiarity with Roman history that is used for interpreting the present; secondly, the situation is explicitly colonial (the action is situated in Spain under the Roman colonization) and the only fictitious character is a queen who forcefully articulates both resistance and fascination with respect to Roman domination. Queen Viriate strategy and rhetoric illustrate the presence of a persisting expression of ambiguous resentment that evokes some aspects of contemporary postcolonial discourse and could serve as a point of entry in the understanding of the necessity of constructing a postcolonial global memory.